Studies have shown that accuracy of L2 writing is improved when teachers employ direct corrective feedback (CF). Less is known about the benefits of adding some form of metalinguistic explanation to the focused direct CF. In this study, thirty-six grade nine students from two different schools in Sweden completed two sets of written tasks, one week apart. All of the students’ work was corrected using focused direct CF, with only one linguistic feature (the accurate use of the present simple and the present continuous) being the primary focus. Some of the students also received an oral metalinguistic explanation in the form of a class lecture, while others received a written, personalised metalinguistic explanation. Eleven students were subsequently interviewed.The study showed that all of the students appreciated the CF that they received and the vast majority thought that it had helped them, even if their results did not reflect this. The students who received focused direct corrective feedback with an oral explanation in the form of a class lecture showed the most consistent improvement overall.

Corrective feedback (CF) is regarded as a controversial topic when it comes to writing in the L2 classroom. Some researchers have found it to be both meaningless and harmful, while others have researched the effects of different types of CF and found it to be good for language development in several ways. This made us interested in conducting a study focusing on what attitudes grade 3-5 (age 9-11) teachers have concerning CF, and if they themselves use it for their L2 students’ writing. The study was conducted through five semi-structured interviews with teachers working in Lund, Sweden. The aim of the study was to investigate compulsory school teachers’ experiences of and thoughts on CF as a teaching method for improving young L2 learners’ writing. The results revealed that the teachers believe CF to be an irreplaceable part of language learning but that it should be adapted to each individual’s needs. Although all interviewed teachers acknowledged CF’s potential harm on learners’ motivation and willingness to write, no one believed that it could be left out completely.

Providing written feedback is a time-consuming part of an English teacher’s work life and there are many ways in which feedback can be provided. According to the Swedish National Agency of Education (2011), teachers must provide their students with feedback. Studies have been conducted investigating feedback provision and teachers’ feedback practices, but few studies have shed light on the students’ perception of feedback, especially in Swedish, and even Nordic, contexts. This study investigated students’ perception and use of teacher feedback on written assignments in an EFL (English as a foreign language) classroom in mid-Sweden. The study investigated both student perception of feedback, with specific focus on WCF (written corrective feedback), and students’ use of the feedback. The method used for data collection was a semi-structured internet survey containing 21 questions. The participants were 30 upper secondary school students. The results of the study showed that students mostly perceived feedback as important and useful, especially when it contained concrete tips and proposals for text improvement. They regarded CF and WCF as important as they wanted to become aware of what errors they made to avoid making those in future writing. Nevertheless, they reported that too extensive feedback (unfocused CF) was not preferred. Both positive and negative feedback were considered useful for future writing and a large majority read the feedback they received every time. Feedback provided together with a grade was also read by the students, as they wanted to have information about strengths and weaknesses in the text as well as motivation for the grade. To conclude, feedback was mostly perceived as important and useful, and the students used it to improve their writing.

Cette thèse qui se veut transdisciplinaire, alliant les sciences du langage, les sciences de l'éducation et la sociolinguistique, se centre sur quatre axes principaux : la politique du plurilinguisme dans les institutions éducatives, l'apprentissage et l'acquisition des LE (le Français Langue Etrangère : FLE, et l'Espagnol Langue Etrangère : ELE), les erreurs et le feedback correctif (FC) à l'écrit, les pistes d'optimisation didactique pour promouvoir l'éducation plurilingue et le FC. Les résultats de ce travail de recherche montrent que, à l'échelle nationale, l'objectif du plurilinguisme dans les institutions éducatives est très loin d'être atteint en France et en Espagne, comme en témoigne l'analyse des chiffres et des statistiques publiés par les deux Ministères de l’Éducation Nationale durant l'année académique 2014-2015, laissant transparaître la situation peu avantageuse du français en Espagne et de l'espagnol en France face à la prédominance de l'anglais, bien qu'il soit indéniable que l'ELE présente de bien meilleurs résultats que le FLE. A l'échelle locale, c'est-à-dire au niveau de la classe, notre travail de recherche-action autour du FLE et de l'ELE s'est centré sur l'analyse de différents types de FC expérimentés à l'écrit (direct, indirect, reformulatif, métalinguistique, électronique et mixte) à travers une démarche en trois étapes : rédaction / comparaison avec le FC / réécriture. L'objectif était de découvrir l'impact de chacun des FC à l'étude dans les deux systèmes éducatifs considérés, et de réaliser une synthèse de la rétroaction corrective s'avérant la plus efficace en France et en Espagne, en vue de faire évoluer le stade d'interlangue des apprenants. Les données et les résultats de la recherche montrent que la pratique de certains types de FC, suivant différentes modalités de regroupement d'apprenants (individuel ou en binôme), a eu une incidence directe dans le processus d'apprentissage / acquisition de la LE, tels que le FC direct chez les collégiens de FLE et d'ELE, le FC métalinguistique en binôme chez les lycéens espagnols, le FC mixte chez les lycéens français et les étudiants des deux pays. En revanche, d'autres FC n'ont pas entraîné l'assimilation de nouvelles connaissances par les apprenants, à savoir le FC indirect, surtout chez les collégiens hispanophones, le FC métalinguistique en binôme chez les lycéens francophones, le FC métalinguistique individuel chez les lycéens hispanophones, le FC indirect chez les étudiants de part et d'autre des Pyrénées. C'est ainsi que de nombreuses règles grammaticales restent encore inertes. D'où la présence récurrente d'erreurs non rectifiées dans les productions écrites de tous les apprenants. L'étude conclut en proposant quelques recommandations susceptibles d'être étoffées, voire modifiées, ayant pour finalité le « plurilinguisme » tant proclamé par les instances européennes et l'optimisation du FC en classe de LE. / This thesis, which aims at adopting a transdisciplinary approach by combining the Language Sciences, Education Sciences and Sociolinguistics, focuses on four main ranges: the politics of the plurilingual education, the learning and acquisition of a foreign language (French as a Foreign Language: FFL, Spanish as a Foreign Language: SFL), error treatment and corrective feedback (CF) in writing, as well as the didactic optimization tools directed to promoting both plurilingual education and CF. The results of this piece of research show that the nationwide goal of fostering plurilingualism is far from being reached in France as well as in Spain, as evidenced by the figures and statistics issued by both respective Ministries of Education for the academic year 2014-2015, which attest to the underprivileged status of the French language in Spain and that of the Spanish language in France compared with English language, even though it cannot be denied that SFL teaching delivers, in this regard, better results than FFL teaching. On a local scale, at the classroom level, the methodological approach of action-research carried out in different FFL/SFL classrooms has focused on the analysis of different types of written corrective feedback (direct, indirect, reformulative, metalinguistic, electronic and mixed) throughout a process split into three phases: writing task / comparison between the aforementioned task and the provided corrective feedback / rewriting task. The objective sought was both to bring to light the impact of CF on both education systems and to elaborate an abridgment of the most effective CF in France and Spain in order to develop the students' interlanguage stages. As shown by the data and results of the research, the practice of some types of CF, according to different classification methods for learners (individual, pairs), has had a direct impact on the foreign language learning/acquisition process through the direct CF in secondary school students (both FFL and SFL), the metalinguistic CF in tandem partners amongst Spanish-speaking students undertaking the Spanish Baccalaureate and the mixed CF amongst the French-speaking high school students and the students of both countries. Nevertheless, other types of CF have been proven to be ineffective to insure assimilation by learners such as the case of the indirect CF, especially amongst secondary-school Spanish students, the metalinguistic CF in tandem partners amongst French-speaking high school students, the individual metalinguistic CF amongst Spanish-speaking learners and the indirect CF amongst students on both sides of the Pyrenees. This has brought about the specific conservatism of plenty of grammar rules. Hence, the recurring presence of errors left uncorrected by students in their writing tasks. The study concludes with some recommendations liable to being broadened or modified, with the objectives of reaching the much proclaimed "plurilingualism" by the European institutions and of optimizing the CF in the FFL/SLF classrooms. / Esta tesis, que quiere ser transdisciplinaria, combinando las ciencias del lenguaje, las ciencias de la educación y la sociolingüística, se centra en cuatro áreas principales: la política del plurilingüismo en las instituciones educativas, el aprendizaje y la adquisición de LE (el Francés Lengua Extranjera: FLE, y el Español Lengua Extranjera: ELE), el tratamiento del error y el feedback correctivo (FC) en la producción escrita, así como las pistas de optimización didáctica para promover la educación plurilingüe y el FC. Los resultados de este trabajo de investigación muestran que, a nivel nacional, el objetivo del plurilingüismo en las instituciones educativas está muy lejos de ser alcanzado en Francia y en España, como lo demuestra el análisis de las cifras y las estadísticas publicadas por los dos Ministerios de Educación en el año académico 2014-2015, dejando ver una situación poco ventajosa del francés en España y del español en Francia frente al dominio del inglés, aunque es innegable que el ELE presenta en este sentido mejores resultados que el FLE. A nivel local, es decir en el marco del aula, la investigación-acción realizada en clase de FLE y de ELE se ha centrado en el análisis de diferentes tipos de FC escrito (directo, indirecto, reformulativo, metalingüístico, electrónico y mixto) a través de un proceso en tres etapas: redacción / comparación con el FC / reescritura. Se trataba de descubrir el impacto de cada FC experimentado en ambos sistemas educativos y de realizar una síntesis de la retroalimentación correctiva más eficaz en Francia y en España, con el fin de desarrollar el estadio de interlengua de los alumnos. Los datos y los resultados de la investigación muestran que la práctica de algunos tipos de FC, según diferentes modalidades de agrupamiento de aprendices (individual o por parejas), ha tenido un impacto directo en el proceso de aprendizaje / adquisición de la LE, tales como el FC directo en los alumnos de Secundaria de FLE y de ELE, el FC metalingüístico en tándem en los aprendices hispanófonos de Bachillerato, el FC mixto en los aprendices francófonos de Instituto y los estudiantes de ambos países. En cambio, otros FC no han provocado la asimilación de nuevos conocimientos por parte de los aprendices; a saber el FC indirecto, sobre todo en los alumnos españoles de ESO, el FC metalingüístico en tándem en los aprendices francófonos de Instituto, el FC metalingüístico individual en los aprendices de habla español, el FC indirecto en los estudiantes de ambos lados de los Pirineos. Esto ha dado lugar a que numerosas reglas gramaticales permanezcan todavía inertes. De ahí, la presencia recurrente de errores no rectificados en la producción escrita de los alumnos. El estudio finaliza proponiendo algunas recomendaciones susceptibles de ser ampliadas o modificadas, con el fin de lograr el "plurilingüismo" tan proclamado por las instancias europeas y optimizar el FC en clase de FLE y de ELE.